Our Grand-daughter has slept in Mommy's bed since she was 8 weeks old. She is now 8 months old. She has a room of her own (that she plays in) and a lovely crib. She is not a great sleeper. She starts off well but then turns restless. Once she turns over, sleep is over too. That being said, we have been trying to get her to sleep in her own bed and it is not working well. Naps (for 45 mins at the most if we are lucky - usually only 15 min.) are all that we have managed to get her to take. She has outgrown the snuggle nest and is now crawling (2 days now). You can tell she is tired just by looking at her eyes. Oh, let me also add that she is teething.
My grand daughter is now 1 year old with a mind AND temper of her own. She has transitioned to her crib but still in her Mommy's room.
-She now sleeps in it if Mommy can get her to sleep.
-She is still not sleeping well. Nights are short and she is usually waking up crying throughout the night.
-She does NOT like to to nap even when she is falling over from fatigue.
-She has 6 teeth.
-She is still nursing but weight is in the low percentile. Dr. says she needs to eat more food now. We have been trying to get her to eat baby food since she was about 9 mos old. It works fine sometimes but other times, no way. Mommy is afraid that if she doesn't nurse her she will not get enough nurishment and not grow properly. Again, Dr. says she needs more food and now some whole milk.
Any suggestions on either of the issues?
1) getting baby to eat.
2) getting baby to sleep
3) also, what about schedule/routine for baby. When is the best time for naps/bedtime, etc.
Truly, any help now would be greatfully appreciated. (Mommy is a single mom.)
Read "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer". It will help you understand that when babies have a crutch to fall asleep then they look for that crutch when they wake up in order to fall back to sleep. The book has methods to help break bad habits and start a new sleep routine, which she (and the rest of the family!!) needs to be healthy and thrive
When my daugther was 8 months old, she slept at least an hour, twice a day, after waking at 6:30am and going to bed at 7:30pm, and she slept through the night. Teething can create some sleep issues, but a small dose of Tylenol 30 minutes before the time you want to put her down should do the trick so that she's not uncomfortable. I also read "On Becoming Babywise" about getting her on a schedule and as a full-time working and full-time single Mom (donor Dad does not co-parent or contribute), that saved me! She usually went down for her morning nap between 9:30-10:30am. Then after lunch again around 1-3pm. The schedule is that they eat when they wake, play after that, get changed, etc. or take bath whatever, then nap again, in roughly 3-4 hour segments until bed time. Once you are consistent with is, it works like a charm. I will say that I think it might take a bit longer, since she has not gotten used to her crib yet, but as long as you put her there every single time it's time to sleep and do not let Mommy take her to bed anymore, she should adjust in about a month at most.
Also, if you think it would help, I'd get a cheap sound machine and put it on for both naps and nighttime. I got one at Target for less than $10 with a large variety of sounds and it really helps lull them off and mask disturbances.
Good luck,
K.
Hi Grammy,
It's hard seeing them so tired. Remember how tired she looks as you begin the process of transitioning her to her own bed.. you'll need the motivation to stick with it. She is not going to like it (would you?).
I would suggest that you begin a bedtime routine with her that you stick with precisely. (Whatever you want, but maybe: bottle, jammies, brush teeth, kisses to Mom/Papa etc, then in rocking chair IN HER ROOM in soft lighting read a short story, lights out, sing a lullaby or three, then into bed.). Whatever you decide, be sure that MOST of it takes place in her room, and that several minutes before you plan to leave her in bed, the lights are already out (maybe leave a hallway light on so it isn't pitch black). She needs to be put into the bed awake. Not WIDE awake. Drowsy... but awake. Go back in to soothe her every 5 minutes or so (if she needs) but do not pick her up... only rub her back, speak softly and minimally, then leave again. (Along the lines of the Ferber method). If she has a comfort object (special blanket, stuffed animal) give it to her when she goes into the crib.
You know she is going to protest, so you have to mentally prepare yourselves for that before you start. Because once you begin, you cannot give in and let her sleep anywhere else.. she will learn that protesting (loudly) will get her what she wants and encourage her to protest even more.
But do it soon, the longer she sleeps in her mom's bed, the harder it will be to move her out, which is going to happen sooner or later. And once she learns to stand/walk, she will be more difficult (she'll stand at the crib rail and scream.. and she'll have more patience to keep it up, too, and/or try climbing out of the crib). There are folks who will tell you that co-sleeping works for them, but obviously you guys have decided that it is not working in your household.. so don't be dissuaded from doing what you know is right for your granddaughter.
It may be that the most difficult part will be consistency between you and your daughter's methods. And consistency is the key to whatever method you choose. Nothing will work if you are not both "on the same page" and in agreement about what needs to happen. So please be sure you two have talked at length about this before you start. If you do one thing, and she does something else, your granddaughter will be confused and stressed out by anything you try. So work together and stay strong. It will be difficult, but shouldn't take that long (a week or so?).
Your granddaughter will thank you for it with her smiles (with no bags under her eyes).
Good luck and happy sleeping!
My son is 2 1/2 and I still haven't figured out all this sleeping stuff. Once I feel like I've got him on a schedule something happens (teething, sickness, etc) to get us back off.
I just had to write, though, because I completely believe in Hyland's Teething Tablets. They have been a God send to me and my entire family. My siblings used them on their children who are now ages 6, 10, 12, 14, 15, & 16. I have used them and still do when needed on my son and it's AMAZING. You can purchase them at Walmart or a Health food store. They are Homeopathic/100% natural/herbal supplements.
i do not know why her naps are not longer has your daughter talked to her pediatrician about that? if not maybe she needs to.
as far as her sleeping in her own crib -- well until mom makes her do it with her then she probably will not want to with you.
once kids get use to sleeping with mom or mommy and daddy it is hard to break them so kids are 2 years old before you can break them unfortunately it is not a good thing to get started and once you do it is hard to break. especially with her being a light sleeper some kids once they go to sleep in your bed you can move them to their own but with you it does not seem like that idea is plausable. some paretns have to wait until kid is older and gets a todler bed and mommy goes into the todler bed with the child and gets the child to sleep there then mommy leaves. i hope you can break the habit before that but their does not seem like a easy answer with her being such a light sleeper.good luck maybe again ask pediatricain for suggestions with that also.
As a first time mom, I had those questions.
On naps, we put him to sleep for 2-3 hours half way through his day but make sure their still some background noise. This way she can differentiate from day and night time. We had him taking his naps in the pack and go (playpen)in the living room and put music as background noise for a little bit (classical smooth jazz). If you want her to take naps on her crib you might want to let her cry a little bit (normally5-10 minutes is okay since she is a little bit older) to see if she sooths her self back to sleep. The crying part was the most difficult one becuase I wanted to go and get my son out of his bed and then he was overexhausted but it worked out.
On the night time we move our son to his own room when he was three months old. When we did the move, I made sure he had something that smelled like me and I slept on the floor for a couple of nights in his room, then I let him cry for two to three minutes.
Something I heard is that they follow the smell of their mother to feel secure (even at such a small age) and I think is true because ever since that switch with his bunny he has been doing great.
Make sure the mom sleeps with whatever item it will be inside her clothe she is planning on giving to your granddaughter.
It takes a little bit longer for some kids but is worth a try. Remember each child is different.
Good Luck.
Oh, I know how frustrating that is! As the mother of a 2 1/2 year old who STILL doesn't sleep through the night, I sympathize with your situation. (My 10-week old, however, sleeps 8-9 hours at night already, so I am CONVINCED that kids are just naturally good sleepers or not.)
At 8 months, your granddaughter should be taking two naps per day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. My daughter used to nap 1-2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon.
I assume your granddaughter is sleeping at night? Perhaps before naps you could do an abbreviated version of her night time routine, like giving her a bottle, rocking, then reading a book and putting her down.
One thing that helped my non-sleeper sleep was a white noise machine, which I got at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for $10. She likes the waterfall sound best, which honestly sounds like static to me, but it does help her sleep. Plus it drowns out any other noises in the house and outside.
I do know, too, that when kids reach a new milestone (you mentioned she's just started crawling), their sleep suffers because they get so excited and want to practice their new skill. Plus teething is hard on sleep. I'd ask her pediatrician if you can give her some Motrin before naps/bed.
Good luck!
